The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Defense Department and the National Security Council all declined to comment. But, they said, “the big fear with any eventual EMP device in orbit it might render large portions of particular orbits unusable” by creating a minefield of disabled satellites that “would then prove dangerous to any new satellites we might try to put up to replace or repair the existing satellites.”
“It’s not a new concept and, as a concept, dates back to the late Cold War,” said one US official. The intelligence community, Biden said, had “found out there was a capacity to launch a system into space that could theoretically do something that was damaging” but that it “hadn’t happened yet.” “But only in recent weeks now has the intelligence community been able to assess with a higher sense of confidence exactly how Russia continues to pursue it.” “Our general knowledge of Russian pursuit of this kind of capability goes back many, many months, if not a few years,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Thursday. The Defense Department and the intelligence community have tracked Russian efforts to develop a broad range of anti-satellite weapons, including an EMP, for years.Īnd there has been a stream of intelligence reporting in recent months related specifically to Russia’s efforts to develop nuclear-powered anti-satellite capabilities, according to one defense official.īut Russia has recently made progress in its efforts to develop a nuclear EMP - a related but far more alarming technology. “Anything that they’re doing and/or they will do relates to satellites and space and damaging those satellites, potentially,” he said. This kind of new weapon - known generally by military space experts as a nuclear EMP - would create a pulse of electromagnetic energy and a flood of highly charged particles that would tear through space to disrupt other satellites winging around Earth.īiden on Friday emphasized publicly that there is “no nuclear threat to the people of America or anywhere else in the world with what Russia is doing at the moment.” But if used, officials say, it would cross a dangerous rubicon in the history of nuclear weapons and could cause extreme disruptions to everyday life in ways that are difficult to predict. The weapon is still under development and is not yet in orbit, Biden administration officials have emphasized publicly. Mike Turner of Ohio, the chair of the House Intelligence Committee, set off a frenzy in Washington on Wednesday when he issued a statement saying his panel “had information concerning a serious national security threat.” By Friday, President Joe Biden had publicly confirmed that Turner was referring to a new Russian nuclear anti-satellite capability - but officials have steadfastly refused to discuss it further, citing the highly classified nature of the intelligence.
These sources gave CNN a more detailed understanding of what Russia is working on – and the threat it could pose – than the US government has previously disclosed. Russia is trying to develop a nuclear space weapon that would destroy satellites by creating a massive energy wave when detonated, potentially crippling a vast swath of the commercial and government satellites that the world below depends on to talk on cell phones, pay bills, and surf the internet, according to three sources familiar with US intelligence about the weapon.